👋 Welcome back to The Daily Theory, our morning rundown to help you stay on top of your favorite sport. I’m Allen McDuffee, your guide to all things tennis.

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Today’s tennis mood rating: Refreshed with a bit of perplexity.

Let’s tennis!

Three Points

🎾 Programming note: For the first part of this week, my focus will be away from Paris, trading a 1000-level tournament for an ATP Challenger. That’s right, I’m in Charlottesville, Virginia, to catch some action and conduct some interviews at the Jonathan Fried Men’s Pro Challenger. If you’re here too, hit reply and let me know so we can meet! Otherwise, follow Court Theory on Instagram for some behind-the-scenes looks.

  • Yes, but: You still need a preview of the Rolex Paris Masters. The ATP has got you covered with a nice rundown.
  • And another thing: The WTA has three 250s this week in Asia, wrapping up the season, with the exception of the WTA Tour Finals starting later this week.

🎾 One huge win: Joao Fonseca claimed the biggest title of his career on Sunday by defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of Basel, 6-3, 6-4. The 500-level win is his second title of the year after winning the 250 in Argentina.

  • What he said: “Man, it’s crazy,” Fonseca said after the match. “We’ve been through a lot, so I just want to thank my family, and my coaches that helped me achieve this amazing effort.” He added: “My parents just came from Brazil — they were actually going to Paris, and then they just changed their flights and came here, like, one hour before the match with my uncles, so it’s just amazing to have them all here for my biggest title of my career...It’s a pleasure playing on this court, and it’s a pleasure playing this tournament, and I’m just very happy.”
  • Noteworthy: Fonseca jumped up 18 spots in the ATP rankings to 28, all but guaranteeing him a seeding at the Australian Open — good news for him and top-ranked players, alike.

🎾 State of the race: After Sunday’s results, we have a better sense of who might make the cut for the ATP Tour Finals in Turin. Before last week’s 500 events, dozens of players were still in the running, mathematically speaking. Now we’ve got four confirmed and four slots still open.

  • Who’s in: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev.
  • Who’s still in the conversation: Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Alexander Bublik. Historically, Paris weeds out most of the remaining players. Let’s see what this week brings.
  • One question: Is Novak Djokovic going to play? He’s made many statements this year about the tournaments that are important to him. Turin wasn't one of them. Still, he hasn’t withdrawn yet.

And, that’s game.

On The Radar

Matches we’re monitoring today:

Paris - ATP 1000 (Hard)

  • Fabian Maroszan vs. Arthur Rinderknech (1st round)
  • Jacob Fearnley vs. Andrey Rublev (1st round)
  • Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Grigor Dimitrov (1st round)
  • Karen Khachanov vs. Ethan Quinn (1st round)
  • Aleksandar Vukic vs. Terence Atmane (1st round)
  • Alexei Popyrin vs. Alexander Bublik (1st round)
  • Alexandre Muller vs. Brandon Nakashima (1st round)
  • Learner Tien vs. Nuno Borges (1st round)
  • Francisco Cerundolo vs. Damir Dzumhur (1st round)
  • Alex Michelsen vs. Zizou Bergs (1st round)

Chennai - WTA 250 (Hard)

  • Vaishnavi vs. Donna Vekic (1st round)
  • Katarzyna Kawa vs. Lucia Bronzetti (1st round)
  • Mei Yamaguchi vs. Francesca Jones (1st round)
  • Thasaporn Naklo vs. Diane Parry (1st round)
  • Janice Tjen vs. Caroline Werner (1st round)

Jiujiang - WTA 250 (Hard)

  • Alycia Parks vs. Lin Zhu (1st round)
  • Ann Li vs. Zhuoxuan Bai (1st round)
  • Anna Blinkova vs. Chloe Paquet (1st round)
  • Camila Osorio vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto (1st round)
  • Kaja Juvan vs. Claire Liu (1st round)

Hong Kong - WTA 250 (Hard)

  • Talia Gibson vs. Victoria Mboko (1st round)
  • Xiyu Wang vs. Leylah Fernandez (1st round)
  • Alexandra Eala vs. Katie Boulter (1st round)
  • Sofia Kenin vs. Himeno Sakatsume (1st round)
  • Eudice Wong Chong vs. Suzan Lamens (1st round)
  • Moyuka Uchijima vs. Emiliana Arango (1st round)

📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.

Read, Watch, Listen

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